On March 9, American entrepreneur Elon Musk clarified his previous statements regarding the Starlink system in Ukraine, emphasizing that there will be no disconnection of the terminals. The owner of SpaceX did this after a wave of criticism and concern from the international community. IZ reports this with reference to Elon Musk's social networks X.
“To be absolutely clear: no matter how much I disagree with Ukrainian politics, Starlink will never turn off its terminals. I’m simply saying that without Starlink, Ukrainian communication lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! However, we will never do this and will not use it as a bargaining chip,” Musk assured.
Earlier, the entrepreneur stated that the entire Ukrainian front could “collapse” if he decides to turn off the Starlink systems:
“I literally challenged Putin to a physical one-on-one fight over Ukraine, and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. I’m tired of years of carnage in a dead-end confrontation that Ukraine will inevitably lose. Anyone who truly cares, truly thinks, and truly understands wants the meat grinder to stop,” Musk wrote.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski responded to Musk's statements, recalling that Warsaw finances Ukrainian Starlink for $50 million per year. He emphasized that if SpaceX becomes unreliable, Poland will be forced to look for other suppliers.
In response, Musk called the Polish minister a “little man,” emphasizing that there is currently no alternative to Starlink.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also intervened in the situation, accusing Sikorsky of fabrications:
“Just fiction. No one threatened to disconnect Ukraine from Starlink. And say thank you, because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war a long time ago and the Russians would now be on the border with Poland,” he said.
The situation escalated after Reuters, citing three sources, reported that the US was considering disabling Starlink in Ukraine if Kyiv and Washington did not reach an agreement on minerals. In response, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov noted that Ukraine has an alternative to Starlink, but the details were not disclosed.
Elon Musk later called Reuters' information “false,” trying to reassure the public and confirm the stability of Starlink's operations in Ukraine.
The Starlink system became an important element of Ukraine's communications infrastructure during the war. Given Musk's statements, its operation is not subject to the risk of being disconnected, which is a critically important factor for maintaining stable communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and coordinating combat operations.
Further developments in the situation will depend on political agreements between the US and Ukraine, as well as on whether the parties can find compromises that will avoid escalating the conflict around Starlink.
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